How Much does It Cost to Deliver Mail?

In 2009, it cost about $235 per residence to deliver the U.S. mail. Even though the United States Postal Service (USPS) faces competition from several mailing companies and from e-mail, about 177 billion pieces of mail were processed through the USPS in 2009 — that's about 584 million per day. In addition to processing mail, the USPS also processes passports — about 7.3 million in 2009, and money orders, about 135 million that year.

Other fun postal facts:

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) revenue in 2009: $68.09 billion

Its net income that same year: $-3.79 billion

Benjamin Franklin established the first post office in 1775, the USPO.

In 1792, it became part of the U.S. Cabinet and was called the United States Post Office Department, or U.S.P.O.D.

While part of the Cabinet, the Postmaster General was last in line to take the U.S. presidential office in case of emergency.

Mail was delivered seven days per week until 1912.

The USPS didn't become an independent operation until the early 1980s — until that time, it received tax-payer money.

In 2009, the USPS employed 656,000 people — the second largest employer in the U.S., next to Walmart.

The USPS is considered a law enforcement agency: it protects all facets of the U.S. mail system from crime and misuse.

More than 200 U.S. federal laws regulate and protect the U.S. mail system.

The USPS can enforce its monopoly: in 1993 it raided the Equifax offices — a U.S. credit reporting agency — to find out if the overnight mail Equifax was sending through a competitor was truly urgent. It was not, and Equifax was fined $30,000 US Dollars.